Practicing Awareness of Time, Space, and Energy
and what does this have to do with music??
The first week of classes have begun and they were so much fun! I have the pleasure of working with 4 year olds up through 8th graders in my youth classes this year.
In our youngest class, the Eurythmics class, one of the things we are working on is how to navigate space in a social setting. Students are free to move in the room when the music tells them to move and sometimes this can be a learning moment! Imagine you are four years old again and you know where and how to move around your own house, or grandmas, or a friends house. However, when you leave your house there is usually an adult leading you and helping you know where and when you can move, for example holding hands in the parking lot and staying by the shopping cart in the grocery store. Learning to navigate space in response to music is core to a Dalcroze experience, it is an activity that combines the concepts of Time, Space, and Energy with Listening skills.
Time, quite often, is dictated by the teacher at the piano, a drum, recorded music, or someone's movements. From the piano, I have the luxury of changing the time or speed of movement by playing differently and it is the mover's job to listen for those changes. A scampering mouse would move in differently in time than a lumbering bear and the music for each would sound different.
Space, includes the whole movement area- the corners, the edges, and the middle. Space also includes the space around your body such as up, down, and each side. Very importantly, space includes the space between you and other moving people! Navigating among other people is a challenge as we find our own path without following others and move gracefully among the other movers in the room. Another big part of this is learning to anticipate the path of others through the room to figure out if they are headed in the same direction, then figuring out who is going to change course through body language!
Energy. Anyone who has lived with a very young human knows of the abundance of energy they posses. So much of their young life is spent experimenting with energy. The baby pulling your shirt, petting the cat gently (or learning to do this!), throwing the spoon or toy on the floor over and over and over, running, jumping, hanging on your leg, smooshing play dough and more! Energy in the Dalcroze class relates to the music is it gentle or strong, does the music indicate short movements with lots of energy or long slow movements. How much energy do you need to move in time with the music?
Combining Time, Space, and Energy concepts while actively listening is something that improves with practice. The goal of this practice is to his help students develop a sense of rhythm, to recognize of different note values, and to understand the relationship of different note values to one another. As some of these responses become automatized, we will build on the basics to learn other concepts.
Time, Space, and Energy are not only found in music -- what are times in your life or your child's life that you can see these 3 concepts at play?
